Secure application directory

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to storing a secure application directory within a contactless smart card. The contactless smart card include secure memory area for storing software applications and may include a default application directory for listing the software applications stored within the contactless smart card to an external card reader. A second application directory is stored with an access key and a listing of a second set of software applications within the same contactless smart card. The second application directory includes improved application directory entries, where each application directory entry includes an application identifier, a starting memory block byte value, and a size byte value for each of the second set of software applications.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to computer-implementedmethods, devices, and computer-programs for a secure applicationdirectory in contactless smart cards.

BACKGROUND

Contactless transaction systems use secure contactless smart card fortransaction purposes. Some exemplary transaction systems includetransportation—transit cards, authentication and identity cards, parkingcards, and phone cards. An exemplary secure contactless smart card isthe MIFARE® card from NXP Semiconductors or an iClass® card from HIDGlobal. Certain conventional smart cards use radio frequencyidentification (RFID) standards to transmit and receive information toand from a card reader device. RFID based contactless smart card devicesare supported via the International Organization for Standardization andthe International Electrotechnical Commission standard (ISO/IEC) 14443for smart cards and card readers. Certain contactless smart cards mayinclude multiple electronic components, such as an antenna and securememory. Additionally, certain contactless smart cards also may includesupporting semiconductor components, such as a memory management unit, aprocessor, and a cryptographic generator.

paragraphs 4-5, use definitive language. The different types of softwareapplications or application data memory areas include random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and non-volatile flash memory.These memory areas may be secure memory areas for secure informationrequired to access software applications for such purposes as externalsecure access systems, membership, or payment purposes. Further, eachsecure memory area is assigned specific application functions includedin the secure element area within the contactless smart card. Certainlow-end contactless smart cards may not offer significant processingcapabilities; these smart cards may communicate only a radio frequencywith information from a passive memory.

Certain contactless smart cards include a platform for hardware andsoftware that supports both EMV (electronic credit card standards) andMIFARE® operating functions. Such cards further include a processor forretaining different areas within combined or separated secure elementsof the contactless smart card device. Contactless smart cards areavailable in different memory sizes, for example, a 4 KB of EEPROM(flash memory) or a 1 KB EEPROM package. However, certain widely usedsmart cards do not have any intelligent processing capability and aresoftware coded such that certain memory areas alone can be read bycertain card readers. In many widely used contactless transaction cards,such as the MIFARE Classic®, a limited amount of resources are availablewithin the smart card to enable further development. For example, on a 4KB card, a requirement may exist that all of the 4 KB should be activewithin the card at any given time.

In some secure element namespaces, also referred to as “memory areas”within contactless cards, the available memory is staticallypartitioned. The card reader is encoded to read certain ones of thepartitions. Accordingly, the card reader may read only from thepre-determined partitions. Further, each secure memory area is assignedspecific application functions, included in the secure element areawithin the contactless smart card. A 4 KB contactless smart cardincludes data memory areas are typically divided into about 40 sectors,with 32 sectors of 4 blocks each and 8 sectors of 16 blocks each. Oneblock is dedicated to manufacturer information for the contactless smartcard, while a sector may be dedicated to a pre-installed applicationdirectory configured to direct an external card reader to one of severalsoftware applications stored in the contactless smart card. Theapplication directory may point the external card reader to theapplication stored by the sector in which the application is stored.Accordingly, the data memory areas store applications by sectors andun-used memory blocks in a sector may be left idle.

SUMMARY

In certain exemplary embodiments, a computer-implemented method for asecure application directory in a contactless smart card comprisesstoring, in a data memory block of the contactless smart card, anapplication directory entry for one of a plurality of softwareapplications stored in the contactless smart card, the applicationdirectory entry comprising: an application identifier (AID) for thesoftware application; a starting memory block number for a startingmemory block of the memory area, wherein the starting memory block holdsat least a part of the software application; and; and a size for thesoftware application, the size defining a number of data memory blocksfrom the starting data memory block for storing the entire softwareapplication; and storing, in an access memory block of the contactlesssmart card, an access key for access to read the application directoryentry stored within the data memory block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for a contactless smart card deviceincluding a contactless smart card with a secure element, where thesecure element has stored within it, and a secure application directoryaccording to certain exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a memory structure of a 4 KB contactless smart cardwith a default or existing application directory according to certainexemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a memory structure of a 4 KB contactless smart cardwith a secure application directory according to certain exemplaryembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a computer-implemented method for a secureapplication directory in contactless smart cards according to certainexemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Overview

An application directory table reserves special blocks in the secureelement namespace as metadata blocks. These blocks contain the logicalmapping of application identifiers (AIDs) to the slot/block thatcontains the software application to be presented to an external cardreader device. When the external card reader device encounters acontactless smart card, it tries to authenticate to the special metadatablock identified in the directory with a defined access key known to thecard reader and the software application. When the block is valid, thecard reader reads the contents of an application directory table in theassigned block, and performs a look-up to find which sector/blocks towhich the application ID is mapped. By way of an example, when aretailer's loyalty card has an AID of ‘10’, a targeted card readerdevice would read the application directory table in the data memoryblock of the secure element namespace and lookup the AID ‘10’. While thedirectory service is a useful service, it requires the complete use ofthe block and its AID namespace and is managed externally by a thirdparty.

Access key for a contactless smart card may provide different types ofaccess to the application data or software application within thecontactless smart card. In certain exemplary embodiments, “Key “A” orthe “A Key” of sector 0 is a public sector access key with a 6 bytecode, while key “B” or the “B Key” of sector 0 is determined by thecontactless smart card issuer or card owner, where the card issuercontrols certain access keys and a control software application orcertain aspects of the other software applications on the contactlesssmart card. “Card issuer” or “card owner” are terms used interchangeablyherein, and generally refer to the entity that places the secure elementand an application directory within the contactless smart card. An NFCservice provider may be an example of a card issuer type entity.

The B Key may be a 6 byte code that is kept private for making changesto the software application or the application data within the relatedmemory block. “Application data” as used herein defines the data thataugments, updates, or provides data to a software application. “Softwareapplication” as used herein refers to any software application obtainedin any format from an external computer that can be installed andexecuted within the secure element of the contactless smart card.Further, “software application” and “application data” are usedinterchangeably herein to refer to the types of data stored within thesecure element from an external computer. The term “softwareapplication” also includes all formats of the software application, fromthe downloaded format, any intermediate format, and the final executedformat, unless otherwise described. In the data memory block for theapplication directory table in the secure element namespace, a softwareapplication is mapped using its 2 byte Application identifier (AID) byusing a single byte cluster code for access control and another singlebyte as a software application code or the least significant bit (LSB).

In certain exemplary embodiments, the contactless smart card may beloaded with an application directory and software applications toperform the various secure functions as an independent card device. Incertain exemplary embodiments, a contactless smart card deviceincorporates the contactless smart card and provides a user-interfacesoftware application access to the contactless smart card. Exemplarycontactless smart card devices include smart phones; mobile phones;personal digital assistants (PDAs); mobile computing devices such asnetbooks and iPad®s; electronically enabled key fobs; electronicallyenabled card type devices; and other electronically enabled devices,where each device can be used for a plurality of purposes including, butnot limited to, financial transactions, coupons, ticketing, secureauthentication, and related applications.

In certain exemplary embodiments, certain contactless smart cards orimplementations of a contactless smart card, the secure elementnamespace can be divided into different partitions for different cardtypes, including different card protocols or platforms, e.g., EMVCo onJavaCard platform, near field communication (NFC) for proximity sensing,or MIFARE. In one embodiment, for a 1 KB contactless smart card, thesecure element namespace is virtually dividend into sectors, where eachsector includes 4 memory blocks that are 16 bytes in length for each,with the options for sector sizing different from the pre-defined sectorsizing, thereby including contiguous blocks, over contiguous sectors fora single software application.

The trailing block of each sector is a dedicated access memory blockthat is divided into the 3 memory sections for storage of accessinformation to the remainder of the memory block. The access informationincludes an A Key, access bits within the access memory block, and a BKey. The access memory block controls access to the rest of the blocksin the sector depending on individual access keys or a combination ofthe access keys that is used to access the memory blocks. The remainderof the memory blocks in a sector is data memory blocks that containapplication data or the software application. Software applications canalso be stored across sectors by providing a pointer or continuityinformation to the ending bytes of the software application in aprevious sector. The pointer may include the AID of the softwareapplication and the block location and sector location of the continuingsection of the software application.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the access keys in the access memoryblock support different access types to the data memory block for theapplication data and the application directory table in sector 0. Theaccess control block can be configured to describe the permissions ofkey A, while key B maintains the ability to rotate keys in the controlblock and to overwrite the access bits within the access control block.In the data memory block of sector 0, including the applicationdirectory table, key B may be used to edit the directory, to change themapping of AIDs to sector and memory block locations, and to reallocatethe memory blocks by changing the access type in the secure elementnamespace. These functionalities allow the contactless smart card tofunctionally support multiple applications and access types, dependingon the access keys and the access bits in the access memory block.Access types that may be available to the contactless smart card includea write access, a read access, an increment access, a decrement access,or a combination of two or more of each of the read, write, andincrement and decrement accesses. The write access includes the abilityto write or install software applications or application data to datamemory blocks within the secure element namespace.

Each of the sectors in the secure element namespace is assigned a uniqueidentifier from which the device keysets are derived, where the uniqueidentifier may be assigned to the contactless smart card at manufactureor by a card owner. The card owner may refer to the entity that deploysa secure element and the application directory structure on to thecontactless smart card. By way of an example, a Services Identity Module(SIM), a secure digital (SD) memory card, or a Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC) manufacturer may be a card owner by embedding thesecure element and application directory structure into the SIM, UICC,or SD card prior to selling it to a wireless service provider fordeployment in a smart phone. Alternatively, a wireless service providerfor a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), or Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) may embed the secure element and create the application directoryprior to selling the cards for enabling mobile communications.

Each of the “card manufacturer,” the “card owner,” or the “wirelessservice provider” may be referred to as a “card issuer” for providingthe secure element and support application directory within thecontactless smart card. In an exemplary embodiment, the term “cardissuer” may also refer to service providers that create and deploy thecontrol software application within the secure element of thecontactless smart card, where the control software application can beused to control, initiate, and partition the secure element namespace.The application directory may be considered as an embedded softwareapplication at the embedding stage.

In certain exemplary embodiments, a contactless smart card devicemanufacturer or a contactless smart card device operating systemdeveloper may be considered to be the card issuer. The card issuer may,independently or in cooperation with the card owner, provide additionalsoftware application within the contactless smart card, via the secureelement or an external secure element. The additional softwareapplication may perform a management role among a number of cardprotocols within the contactless smart card device using a single NFCcontroller and antenna, or may control the secure element namespace ofthe contactless smart card. Further, a software application providerprovides software applications via over-the-air methods, using the cardissuers services or though regular wireless Internet using the 802.11standards.

Each sector of the secure element can, as a part of the applicationdirectory structure, store a single application with an applicationidentification (AID), thereby enabling multiple software applications toco-exist within the contactless smart card. One memory block at sectoraddress 0, may contain only the manufacturer's data, while the othermemory blocks are data memory blocks which include AIDs of uniqueapplications on the card and the access memory block which providesaccess to the application directory table. The manufacturer's data canused to trace the integrated circuit (IC) details in case of qualityproblems. So, sector 0 of the secure element namespace contains 2 datablocks of 16 bytes each, which is commonly the AID information ofapplications located in other memory blocks within the contactless smartcard.

In certain exemplary embodiments, a software application on acontactless smart card in the context of a transit environmentapplication allows a card reader to access the memory blocks of certainsectors to record where the transit system was entered or exited, to setinitial values, and to decrement values on the card. The turnstile maybe limited to access key A, which is a lower security key andauthenticates the card reader turnstile to read card values and writethe exit or entry point in a certain block of the contactless smart carddepending on the access memory block assignment on the card.Accordingly, the transit software application may be stored in a certainblock with references to other sectors for value—increment/decrement andfor station—exit/entered, where the decrement value may be calculatedfrom the station value allocation in the corresponding data memoryblock. Each sector may include a different set of Key A and Key B, whereappropriate.

The software applications' provider, e.g., a transit office, would haveaccess to key B for the initial value settings in a different sector andmemory block of the contactless smart card, where the sector allows forwriting using the key B. Accordingly, the card may be configured toallow key B accessible devices to write the initial value to apre-determined “initial value” data memory block or sector of thecontactless smart card. A different data memory block of a sector forstoring “station information” includes different set of access keys, keyA and key B, which allow the station information entry and exit to beregistered. A value of charge can be calculated between the entry andexit stations and may then be applied to the “initial value” data memoryblock or sector of the contactless smart card when the card user existsat a station. The transit system verifies key A for the “initial value”data memory block or sector for reading the value remaining prior toallowing entry. A different key B writes the entry location into thestation information data memory block allocated and protected by the keyB. When the turnstile is exited, the card is notified, and the fare iscalculated from the exit and entry points and is decremented from theinitial value, while wiping the initial location. Alternatively, whenthe decrement value is greater than the initial value, the card willsignal the turnstile to prevent exit. Adding more value to the cardusing key B for access via a ticket machine or at an office will rectifythe problem.

Contactless smart cards can be manufactured with known default keys (forexample, 0xFF is a typical default key) for initialization purposes.Since the default keys are known, the security element embedded on thecontactless smart card or within the contactless smart card device maybe considered as disabled, which implies that access may be preventedvia the contactless interface (external card readers) or a contactinterface, such as, applications programming interface (API) or adifferent software application within the secure element. The runtimeenvironment of the secure element or the contactless smart card devicethat hosts the secure element may support the APIs. Once the keys in thesector are designated by the initial setting device at the cardmanufacture's location or the card issuer's (or owner) location using aset of access keys, a main access key, key B, will have exclusivemanagement access to the sector with any option for overrides.Accordingly, the rotation or changing of the keys is set into a knownstate to preserve control of the memory blocks. Messages, softwareapplication, or application data within the memory blocks are generallyin plaintext format, while the encrypted message (encrypted by theapplicable keys—A or B) is in a ciphertext format. Key B may be used tochange Key A in certain sectors, as well as the access bits associatedwith the key may be changed for certain sectors.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the card reader terminal or devicereads the contactless smart card by browsing through the secure elementmemory for the relevant application directory, and then scanning theAIDs for a pre-determined software application AID or a pre-determinedsector as specified in the card reader. An application directory (AD)can establish a data structure table for directory and applicationentries, thereby enabling the reader to identify the correct softwareapplications with which to being transactions. The contactless smartcard can be seen as a memory storage area, as the card reader willrequest application data from the memory storage area for processingsuch applications as payment or even transit. The contactless smart cardtypically provides a random number challenge to the card reader, whilethe card reader provides its own response, using a mutual secret key,back to the contactless smart card. The contactless smart card thenverifies the response from the card reader by comparing its randomnumber to ensure the same secret key. Thereafter the actual transactionis processed using the encryption secret key that is mutually agreedupon.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the transit software application in acontactless smart card may include multiple software applications or fordifferent regions or purposes. By way of an example, a New York Transitsystem and a Los Angles Transit system, may provide different softwareapplications to a single contactless smart card within a contactlesssmart card device. The two software applications can be used onterminals in the corresponding locations as the corresponding cardreaders can automatically determine which directory to access bychecking the AD. The information or the application directory data inthe directory part of the data memory block provides the referencesection of the AD, and includes pointers to the card issuer or amanufacturer's sector for information on the distribution of theremaining free card sectors where the software applications areallocated.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the secure element namespace may bemanaged by the control software application. The control softwareapplication may be a JavaCard applet executing on a JavaCard VirtualMachine within a different secure element namespace in the contactlesssmart card device incorporating the contactless smart card. Accordingly,the JavaCard applet may control the deployment of access keys, softwareapplications, application data, the application directory, and theaccess bits in the access memory blocks using APIs and interacting withthe secure element of the contactless smart card via a securecommunication channel.

In certain exemplary embodiments, a contactless smart card may includemore than one application directory, where each application directory isreadable by an external card reader only when the external card readerknows the access key and the location of the application directory.Accordingly, for a 4 KB contactless smart card, a default applicationdirectory may be stored in sector 0 of the contactless smart card, whereAIDs of various applications within a fixed number of sectors areavailable to external card readers capable of accessing sector 0,reading the default application directory, and transacting with softwareapplications linked in the default application directory. Theimplementation of two application directories may effectively splits thememory area of the contactless smart card into two types of applicationsor for different types of external card readers.

System Architecture

In certain exemplary embodiments, a second application directory may bestored within the namespace of the 4 KB-40 sector contactless smartcard. The second application directory may be assigned an applicationidentifier (AID) for identification via the default applicationdirectory within the contactless smart card. By way of an example, acode of 0x000 may be the default application directory AID. Thecontactless smart card may be configured to include 32 sectors at 4memory blocks per sector, each sector of 16 bytes of length. Theremaining 8 sectors may be configured to include 16 memory blocks persector, each memory block at 16 bytes of length. In an exemplaryembodiment, the second application directory is stored in sector 39 of a40 sector, 4 KB contactless smart card. Accordingly, sector 39 is a 16block sector, where 15 memory blocks may be data memory blocks forstoring application data, with the last memory block forming the accessmemory block for the sector. The access memory block may include twoaccess keys and an access bits defining one of a number of accessconditions available to the sector. The application directory in sector39 may be protected via an access key for reading purposes, where onlyexternal card readers with the read access key may access the secondapplication directory. As a result of the configuration settings of thesectors of the 4 KB-40 sector contactless smart card; there are multiplelevels of application data available to external card readers.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the default application directorystored in sector 0 provides access to 15 sectors available for defaultapplication data storage. By storing the second application directory insector 39, the 4 KB-40 sector contactless smart card includes 153individual 16-byte data memory blocks for the second set of applicationdata storage. This may be calculated by discounting 1 access memoryblock from the sectors 16 through 39, thereby providing 16 (4-memoryblock type) sectors multiplied with 3 data memory blocks per sector fora second set of application data storage, and sectors 32 through 39(16-memory block type) sectors, providing 7 sectors multiplied with 15data memory block per sector for the second set of application datastorage. Further, the second application directory occupies 16 memoryblocks of sector 39, thereby providing 56 concurrently installedapplications to be listed via the second set of application identifiers(AIDs), where each of the second set of AIDs provides a reference to asecond set of software applications stored within the contactless smartcard.

In certain exemplary embodiments, software applications or applicationdata may not need to be stored per sector as in the case of the defaultapplication directory. The second application director includes improvedapplication directory entries, where the improved application directoryentry is a 4 byte entry including a 2 byte second application identifier(AID), a single byte start value, and a single byte size value for eachof the second set of software applications. The single byte start valuecorresponds to the starting block number assigned to each of the secondset of software applications stored within the contactless smart card.For a 1 KB, 16 sector type smart card, there may be limited space fordefining two application directories and associated default set andsecond set of software applications. However, such an implementation maybe apparent for segregating the namespace of the contactless smart cardinto two access types or for different types of external card readers.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the start value may be an absolutememory address of the memory block calculated by multiplying the numberof memory blocks per sector from the first available memory sector andamending the number by 1. By way of an example, to find the absoluteaddress (starting memory block) for a software application stored atsector 2, memory block 1, when the software application is 4 memoryblocks in length, the calculation involves finding the number of memoryblocks in the first available sector, e.g., sector 0 in this case,excluding memory block 0 for manufacturer's information. For a sector 2,where sector 2 is a 4 block sector, the number of blocks from the firstavailable memory block is 8, where the first available memory block ismemory block 1 in sector 0, and the number of memory block from memoryblock 1, sector 0 to memory block 1, sector 2, including the accessmemory blocks is 8. The resulting value is incremented by 1 to accountfor absolute, zero-based addressing, thereby resulting in a start valueof 9.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the size value of the improvedapplication directory entry can be further divided into a lower nibbleand an upper nibble, the lower nibble for storing an entry size value,while the upper nibble is reserved for future use or as an error orlogging flag. Further size value of a stored software application refersto contiguous blocks of data memory blocks in the sectors of thecontactless smart card, ignoring the access memory blocks. By way of anexample, an application starting at block 9 (sector 2, memory block 1)with size 4, would be stored in blocks 1 and 2 of sector 2 and thenblocks 0 and 1 of sector 3, avoiding the access memory blocks inbetween.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the structure of the secondapplication directory stored in sector 39 may include a header entry forrecognition by an external card reader, similar to the manufacturer'smemory block in sector 0. The header memory block of sector 39 includesa 2 byte cyclic redundancy check (CRC), a 4 byte unique identifier forthe application directory provider, a single byte version code, an 8byte reserved area, and a single byte entry count. Further, the CRCvalue includes a CRC 16 verification for the application directory, theCRC 16 verification following the definition of CRC_B as stated in theISO/IEC 14443 standards. The unique identifier identifies the owner orissuer of the second application directory, and external card readersmay verify the unique identifier prior to accessing linked softwareapplications or application data.

The version code provides space for storage of revision informationrelated to the second application directory, while the entry countstores a number corresponding to the number of active softwareapplications registered with the second application directory. Further,the entries in the second application directory may be pre-sorted in anascending or descending order, thereby making it easier for an externalcard reader to locate the preferred software application for reading. Inanother exemplary embodiment, a transaction log may be made availablewithin the memory area assigned to the second set of softwareapplications. Accordingly, the transaction log may be implemented as asoftware application with a default AID, such as 0xfffe, stored as oneof the second set of software applications within a pre-determined areain the contactless smart card assigned for the second applicationdirectory. Further, in an exemplary embodiment, an application directoryentry for the transaction log may define the transaction log from aminimum size of 1 block to a maximum size of 15 blocks, per therequirement of the transaction volumes, and the number of the second setof software applications stored within the memory area of the secondapplication directory. The transaction log may, therefore, be assignedan AID that is referenced in the second application directory as anentry.

The transaction log may store codes for activities involving the secondset of software applications of the contactless smart card, where in oneexample, a transaction status is logged in the transaction log when thecontactless smart card transacts with an external card reader. Thestructure of the transaction log includes a 2 byte CRC_B verificationcode, a single byte log, a single byte count field for the number ofAIDs of active software applications available for transaction purposes,an 8 byte reader identifier field for identifying the external cardreader that is in transaction with the software applications on thecontactless smart card, and an AID for the active second softwareapplication in transaction with the external card reader. Thetransaction log may be used by external card reader, when the AID of thetransaction log exists in the second application directory. For thereader identifier, the first 3 bytes are an organization identifier toidentify the organization/owner of the reader device, where the 3 bytesmatch a standard identifier following Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI)standards. Five bytes remaining in the reader identifier are assignedfor unique codes within the 8 byte reader identifier, where the uniquecodes are globally unique for the life of an external card reader. Byway of an example, a 48 bit Media Access Control (MAC) address may beused as a unique code for the 8 byte section of the reader identifier.

The single byte log in the transaction log includes a transaction statusto log post-transaction results between the contactless smart card andthe external card reader. By way of an example, the transaction statuesavailable for storage include, an AID not found status code, an AID readsuccess status code, an AID read failure status code, and a finalreserved status code. Further, the single byte log may log theapplication directory status interaction with the external card reader.The final reserved status code may be used for storing a status of theactual transaction with a software application after the applicationdirectory has forwarded the external card reader to a select softwareapplication.

The AIDs for the second application directory may include a 12 bitmerchant prefix and a 4 bit program code. The program code divides themerchant prefix by the type of merchant. By way of an example, in theprogram code, 0x0 is an undefined/uncategorized program code, 0x1 is aloyalty card program code, 0x2 is a coupon program code, 0x3 is aprepaid gift card program code, 0x4 to 0xf are reserved for othercategories. An AID with code 0xfed2 can be decoded by merchant prefix0xfed, with program code 0x2.

The control software application or the control applet, and the walletsoftware application (user-interface software application) performservice and provisioning of the secure element namespace and provide aconvenient interface to ensure that the software application providersor the card issuer provisions the memory using correct application IDs(AIDs). This action ensures that new software applications do notoverwrite the application software or application data of other softwareapplications in the secure element namespace. For the softwareapplication providers to interact with the control software application,the card issuer publishes a protocol, which may be in a message formatand an associated transaction model. The initiation of provisioning canbe driven from the wallet software application by the user. Once acredential has been provisioned for a partner (one of a number ofsoftware application providers), the solution provides a callbackidentifier that the software application provider can use to deliverpush notifications to the device.

In certain exemplary embodiments, all control applet transactions can beinitiated by the wallet software application, even if a transactionoccurs as a consequence of a pushed event notification. The walletsoftware application can be the initiator of the transaction. In thismethod, the control software application solution may be different fromthe traditional EMVCo provisioning in that, in the control softwareapplication, the wallet software application is the master and thesoftware applications are slaves of the transaction. Conversely, forEMVCo provisioning, the software application providers (for example,financial institutions or transit systems) are the masters of thetransactions and the wallet software application is the slave withoutknowledge of even what actions are being performed to it by the softwareapplication provider, via the TSM. This design can alleviate thenecessity of a TSM, as the control applet in conjunction with the walletsoftware application, and an asymmetric key-pair cryptography algorithmplays the role of the trusted neutral and secure software applicationprovider. The control software application may additionally define allinteractions that will be driven over a secure channel (enforced by atleast a secure socket layer or SSL).

In certain exemplary embodiments, the control software applicationimplementation is performed via a Representative State Transfer(RESTful) interface, which is a stateless client-server architecture,using messages in a defined JavaScript Object Notification or JSONformat. The control software application involves transaction in asequence of events that starts with the wallet software applicationsending a commence provision message to a partner device, where thepartner device may be a non-TSM computer or a TSM computer operating asa remote server host for multiple software applications. The commencemessage includes the information necessary for the non-TSM computer toencode a ‘manage transaction’ response that is securely returned to thewallet software application. The partner uses the information in thecommence transaction message to encode data in the response message. Forexample, the commence message can include the public key for the controlapplet to match with a private key stored in the contactless smart carddevice.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for a contactless smart card device 144including a contactless smart card 156 with a secure element 160, wherethe secure element 160 has stored within it, a secure applicationdirectory according to certain exemplary embodiments. Softwareapplications are deployed to the contactless smart card device 144 froma trusted service manager (TSM) 108 hosted by a near field communication(NFC) service provider 104 or software application providers 112.Further, the TSM may receive software applications from the providers112 via a secure communication internet channel 132, where the providers112 include servers hosting a software application for differentmerchants and merchant types, such as credit card companies 116,ticketing companies 120, coupon companies 124, and authenticationcompanies 128.

The software applications from the TSM 108 may be deployed to thecontactless smart card device 144 via a secure wireless connection,e.g., GSM and CDMA 140 using a wireless service provider 136 as a proxyserver. Alternatively, the TSM 108 deploys software applications to thecontactless smart card 144 via a secure wireless 802.11 standardconnection to a Wi-Fi enabled device 144. The software applications maybe requested by an end-user using a user-interface software application152 on the device 144. The received software applications deploydirectly to the secure element namespace 160 or a secure memory in thecontactless smart card 156. The contactless smart card interacts with anexternal card reader device 172 via the NFC controller chip 164 and anantenna 168 configured to transmit and receive radio frequency signals.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the contactless smart card 156 is anindependent card device capable of interacting with an external readerdevice 172 independent of any contactless smart card device serving asits host. The contactless smart card 156 may then be loaded withsoftware applications using an external card reader device especiallyconfigured to provision the namespace 160 of the contactless smart carddevice 156 using radio frequency signals and a write access key to writesoftware applications or application data to the appropriate areas ofthe namespace.

FIG. 2 illustrates a memory structure 200 of a 4 KB contactless smartcard with a default or existing application directory 248B according tocertain exemplary embodiments. The secure element namespace 204 isdivided, virtually, into 40 sectors 208, each sector including a numberof memory blocks 212. Further, the 40 sectors include 32 sectors of 4memory blocks and 8 sectors of 16 memory blocks. Each sector includes atleast one access memory block 220, 228, and 252, for access control ofthe blocks within the sector. In each sector, the remaining blocks maybe reserved as data memory blocks for storing software applications orapplication data. Each memory block, for an access or data type memoryblock, includes 16 bytes per block 216 of access or data stored withinit.

The access memory blocks for each sector stores an A keys 220A-Z, accessbits in access memory blocks 228A-Z, and a B keys 252A-Z for accessingthe sectors' memory blocks, where either the A key 220, the B key 252,or a combination of both the access keys 220 and 252 may be used todefine different access types stored as access bits within the memoryblocks of each sector. By way of an example, in certain sectors, anexternal card reader may only access data memory blocks for readingstored application data, e.g., in an authentication card, theauthentication information may be stored in the data memory blocks,where the external card reader may only read the authenticationinformation, but not edit it. A specialized external card reader devicewith write access key may be used to edit the authentication informationin the data memory block.

In an example, for the transaction log, the sector including thetransaction logs within the data memory block of the sector may beconfigured to be accessed for writing purposes by the external cardreader, to write the card reader's reader identifier to the transactionlog. The external card reader provides the contactless smart card withits write access key prior to being allowed any write access. Sectors 0has one data memory block 256 assigned for manufacturer's information.The manufacturer of the contactless smart card may store card uniqueidentifier, which may be used by a card issuer to generate the defaultaccess keys for the A key and the B key. Thereafter, the card issuer maychange the access keys and store new access keys within the contactlesssmart card for use by specialized external card readers, according tothe type of function provided by the external card readers.

FIG. 3 illustrates a memory structure 300A-B of a 4 KB contactless smartcard with a secure application directory 328A-Z according to certainexemplary embodiments. In the memory structure illustration of 300A, thesecure element namespace 304 includes a default or existing applicationdirectory 336B, where a limited number of the 40 sectors 312 areallocated to the default application directory. This allows legacy cardreaders to read existing software applications within the namespace ofthe contactless smart card. The default application directory 336B maygenerally be stored in sector 0 of the secure element namespace, withsectors 0-15 assigned to the default application directory. Further, thesectors 0-15 may be 4-memory blocks 316 per-sector type memory areas forstoring default or legacy software applications. The second applicationdirectory is stored in sector 39 and includes 15 data memory blocks forstoring AIDs relating to a second set of software applications. Thesecond application directory 328 may be accessed by an external cardreader, provided that the external card reader has access to a read typefor accessing and finding the application directory 328 and linking tosoftware applications stored within sectors of the memory areaassociated with the second application directory, e.g., 328A-Z. Sincesectors 0-15 are associated with the default application directory,sectors 16-39 may be configured to store the second set of softwareapplications.

The memory structure illustration of 300B includes more details forsector 39 of the contactless smart card, where sector 39 stores thesecond application directory 328. Memory block 15 of the series ofmemory blocks 316 in sector 39 includes the access memory blocksincluding 320A, 324A, and 340A. The A key 320A may be configured toprovide read access to external card readers, e.g., turnstiles and othertransaction devices. The external card readers are then provided accessto read the second application directory starting at data memory block 1to memory block 14. Memory block 9 of sector 39 is reserved for a headerentry including 364A-E, for the CRC, UNIQUE ID, version, count, andreserved areas. Data memory blocks 0 to 16 each 16 bytes per memoryblock, where 4 bytes of data memory block is an application directoryentry. By way of an example, as described in detail above, theapplication directory entry includes an AID of a target softwareapplication 352A, 356A, and 360A; the start byte value 352B, 356B, and360B; and the size byte value for the target software application 352A,352B, and 352C.

System Process

FIG. 4 illustrates a computer-implemented method 400 for a secureapplication directory in contactless smart cards according to certainexemplary embodiments. Once the second application directory is definedin terms of number of software applications, size of the secure elementnamespace, and the access control information, block 405 stores theinformation in respective memory blocks of the contactless smart card.In block 405, an external card reader device with write accesspermissions to memory blocks in sectors 16-39 may access sector 39 towrite an application directory entry for one of a number of softwareapplications stored in the contactless smart card. The storing processof block 405 includes writing an application identifier (AID) for thesoftware application; a starting memory block number for a startingmemory block of the memory area, where the starting memory block holdsat least a part of the software application; and a size for the softwareapplication, the size defining a number of data memory blocks from thestarting data memory block for storing the entire software application.

Block 410 performs a storing function for storing an access key foraccess to read the application directory entry stored within the datamemory block. The access key for reading the application directory instored in access memory block of the contactless smart card, the accessmemory block providing access control over the sector of the contactlesssmart card including the application directory entry.

The exemplary methods and acts described in the embodiments presentedpreviously are illustrative, and, in alternative embodiments, certainacts can be performed in a different order, in parallel with oneanother, omitted entirely, and/or combined between different exemplaryembodiments, and/or certain additional acts can be performed, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, suchalternative embodiments are included in the disclosures describedherein.

The exemplary embodiments can be used with computer hardware andsoftware that perform the methods and processing functions describedabove. As will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in thatart, the systems, methods, and procedures described herein can beembodied in a programmable computer, computer executable software, ordigital circuitry. The software can be stored on computer readablemedia. For example, “computer-coded,” “software,” “scripts,”“computer-readable software code,” and “programs” are software codesused interchangeably for the purposes of simplicity in this disclosure.Further, “memory,” “computer-program product” and storage can includesuch media as, floppy disk, RAM, ROM, hard disk, removable media, flashmemory, memory stick, optical media, magneto-optical media, CD-ROM, etc.

Although specific embodiments have been described above in detail, thedescription is merely for purposes of illustration. It should beappreciated, therefore, that many aspects described above are notintended as required or essential elements unless explicitly statedotherwise. Various modifications of, and equivalent acts correspondingto, the disclosed aspects of the exemplary embodiments, in addition tothose described above, can be made by a person of ordinary skill in theart, having the benefit of the present disclosure, without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the followingclaims, the scope of which is to be accorded the broadest interpretationso as to encompass such modifications and equivalent structures.

1. A computer-implemented method for storing multiple applications in asingle sector of a contactless smart card namespace, the methodcomprising: storing, for each application stored in the namespace, anapplication directory entry in a data memory block of an applicationdirectory in the contactless smart card namespace, each applicationdirectory entry comprising: an application identifier (AID) for eachcorresponding software application stored in one or more data memoryblocks of the contactless smart card namespace; a starting memory blocknumber for a starting memory block in a sector of the contactless smartcard namespace, wherein the starting memory block holds at least a partof the corresponding software application; and a size for thecorresponding software application, the size defining a number ofcontiguous data memory blocks including the starting data memory blockthat store the entire software application.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the contactless smart card comprises a default orexisting application directory, different from the secure applicationdirectory, and stored in a different data memory block of thecontactless smart card.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein thestarting memory block number is a single byte value comprising anabsolute value for an address of the data memory block in thecontactless smart card namespace, the absolute value calculated using azero-based numbering system.
 4. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe starting memory block number is a single byte value for an absolutememory address calculated as a sum of a product of the size of thesoftware application stored in the memory block and the reference indexof the memory block, and the memory address of the first memory blockwithin the reference index of the memory block.
 5. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the size of the software application is in the formof a single byte having a value for the number of contiguous memoryblocks assigned to store the software application.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the size of the software application is inthe form of a single byte, and wherein the single byte further comprisesa lower nibble with a value for the number of contiguous memory blocksassigned to store the software application.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the application directory entry comprising the AID issorted in an ascending or descending order prior to storing within thedata memory block.
 8. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising an external card reader for reading the application directoryentry stored within the data memory block.
 9. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising a group of log memory blocks for recordingtransactions performed by an external card reader and the contactlesssmart card.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the AIDcomprises a software code defining the type of software applicationrelated to the AID, the type of software application defined as oneamong a loyalty card software application, a coupon softwareapplication, a prepaid gift card software application, and a transitcard software application.
 11. A contactless smart card with a secureapplication directory, the contactless smart card, comprising: anamespace comprising a plurality of sectors, each sector comprising aplurality of data memory blocks; an application directory in a sector ofthe namespace, wherein the application directory comprises, for eachsoftware application stored in the namespace, an application directoryentry, each application directory entry comprising: an applicationidentifier (AID) for the corresponding software application; a startingmemory block number for a starting memory block in a sector of thecontactless smart card namespace, wherein the starting memory blockholds at least a part of the software application; and a size for thecorresponding, software application, the size defining a number ofcontiguous data memory blocks from the starting data memory block thatstore a remainder of the software application.
 12. The contactless smartcard according to claim 11, wherein the contactless smart card comprisesa default or existing application directory, different from the secureapplication directory, and stored in a different data memory block ofthe contactless smart card.
 13. The contactless smart card according toclaim 11, wherein the starting memory block number is a single bytevalue comprising an absolute value for an address of the data memoryblock in the contactless smart card namespace, the absolute valuecalculated using a zero-based numbering system.
 14. The contactlesssmart card according to claim 11, wherein the starting memory blocknumber is a single byte value for an absolute memory address calculatedas a sum of a product of the size of the software application stored inthe memory block and the reference index of the memory block, and thememory address of the first memory block within the reference index ofthe memory block.
 15. The contactless smart card according to claim 11,wherein the size of the software application is in the form of a singlebyte having a value for the number of contiguous memory blocks assignedto store the software application.
 16. The contactless smart cardaccording to claim 11, wherein the size of the software application isin the form of a single byte, and wherein the single byte furthercomprises a lower nibble with a value for the number of contiguousmemory blocks assigned to store the software application.
 17. Thecontactless smart card according to claim 11, wherein the applicationdirectory entry comprising the AID is sorted in an ascending ordescending order prior to storing within the directory memory block. 18.The contactless smart card according to claim 11, further comprising anexternal card reader for reading the application directory entry storedwithin the data memory block.
 19. The contactless smart card accordingto claim 11, further comprising a group of log memory blocks forrecording transactions performed by an external card reader and thecontactless smart card.
 20. The contactless smart card according toclaim 11, wherein the AID comprises a software code defining the type ofsoftware application related to the AID, the type of softwareapplication defined as one among a loyalty card software application, acoupon software application, a prepaid gift card software application,and a transit card software application.
 21. A computer-program productcomprising computer-readable software code for storing multipleapplications in a single sector of a contactless smart card namespace,the computer-program product comprising: computer-readable software codefor storing, for each application stored in the namespace, anapplication directory entry in a data memory block of an applicationdirectory in the contactless smart card namespace, each applicationdirectory entry comprising: an application identifier (AID) for eachcorresponding software application; a starting memory block number for astarting memory block in the sector of the contactless smart cardnamespace, wherein the starting memory block holds at least a part ofthe corresponding software application; and a size for the correspondingsoftware application, the size defining a number of contiguous datamemory blocks from the starting data memory block that store a remainderof the software application.
 22. The computer-program product accordingto claim 21, wherein the contactless smart card comprises a default orexisting application directory, different from the secure applicationdirectory, and stored in a different data memory block of thecontactless smart card.
 23. The computer-program product according toclaim 21, wherein the starting memory block number is a single bytevalue comprising an absolute value for an address of the data memoryblock in the contactless smart card namespace, the absolute valuecalculated using a zero-based numbering system.
 24. The computer-programproduct according to claim 21, wherein the starting memory block numberis a single byte value for an absolute memory address calculated as asum of a product of the size of the software application stored in thememory block and the reference index of the memory block, and the memoryaddress of the first memory block within the reference index of thememory block.
 25. The computer-program product according to claim 21,wherein the size of the software application is in the form of a singlebyte, and wherein the single byte further comprises a lower nibble witha value for the number of contiguous memory blocks assigned to store thesoftware application.
 26. The computer-program product according toclaim 21, wherein the application directory entry comprising the AID issorted in an ascending or descending order prior to storing within thedirectory memory block.
 27. The computer-program product according toclaim 21, further comprising an external card reader for reading theapplication directory entry stored within the data memory block.
 28. Thecomputer-program product according to claim 21, further comprising agroup of log memory blocks for recording transactions performed by anexternal card reader and the contactless smart card.
 29. Thecomputer-program product according to claim 21, wherein the ID comprisesa software code defining the type of software application related to theAID, the type of software application defined as one among a loyaltycard software application, a coupon software application, a prepaid giftcard software application, and a transit card software application.